Chicago and the arts

Geoff Brown

The huge dramas playing out from Boston to our flooded basements are weighing on our hearts now. But humans are not wired to be stressed out 24/7/365. When our imaginations are ready to soar, we couldn’t be in a better place than Chicago.

Local residents are in the vanguard of a breathtaking array of arts. Name the discipline, it gets huge support in Chicago: rock, jazz, classical productions; art and photo exhibits; dance companies; the literary scene; dining; museums; the theater. And the world comes to Chicago. Movies and TV shows routinely film on our streets. Right now, the musical “Big Fish” is staging its pre-Broadway debut here.

Yet we’re more than the Midwest capital of the arts. Our homegrown talent makes a splash everywhere. Steppenwolf Theatre Company is known for its cavalcade of movie stars. “Saturday Night Live” has had so many alumni of The Second City and iO troupes that it should have “Chicago” in the title. “Chicago Fire,” filmed here, is one of the hottest new dramas on TV. Broadway beckons, be it Steppenwolf’s “August: Osage County,” also becoming a motion picture, or Black Ensemble Theater’s “Jackie Wilson Story.” Our rock stars tour the world, as does the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Tribune entertainment staff gets as excited as anyone else when mega-events hit town … Lollapalooza! Is! Coming! But in between we chronicle the people, places and events that make this town a fantastic attraction year-round. In this mission, we’ve been helped immensely by the addition of two pages to our Arts +Entertainment section every weekday since June 2011.

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